The 37th Annual meeting of the American Community Gardening Association Conference will be held in Cleveland this year!

The ACGA annual conference brings together individuals who are active in all aspects of gardening from across the United States, Canada, and abroad. The conference includes hands-on workshops, presentations, poster sessions, keynote speakers, and visits to community gardens, urban agriculture sites, food security projects, and other green space in Cleveland.

Date: August 4-7 2016

Where: Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH

Price: $320-360 (Includes everything from Thursday Welcome Dinner through Sunday’s Keynote, does not include pre-conference or post-conference)

Youth conference (ages 12-21) includes seminars and a business or cooking competition (price: $75, scholarships available)

Whether it comes from a carton, a glass jar, or a plastic jug, cow’s milk is generally what most people are used to drinking. Did you know there are different kinds of milk? So, with so many different kinds of milk in grocery stores how do we know which ones to choose?

Soy Milk – Made from an extract of soy beans and is typically mixed with water and a natural sweetener.

Rice Milk – Made from a mixture of partially milled rice and water.

Organic Milk – Comes from cows that have been fed organic feed, roam freely, or graze on pesticide free grass.

Raw Milk – Comes from cows but is not pasteurized.

Cow’s milk is generally pasteurized but some people believe that you should try raw cow’s milk to ensure you are getting as many nutrients as possible. Pasteurization is the process that kills all of the harmful bacteria in raw milk by heating it to a specific temperature for a specific amount of time. Pasteurization was developed by Louis Pasteur in 1864, as a means of killing organisms responsible for diseases like typhoid fever, tuberculosis, and diphtheria.

Cow’s milk that has been pasteurized offers 9 essential nutrients such as:

Calcium

Protein

Potassium

Phosphorus

Vitamin D

Vitamin B12

Vitamin A

Riboflavin (B2)

Niacin

What if you’re a vegan or your poor tummy can’t digest cow’s milk? There are a a lot of different choices. We suggest trying rice milk or soy milk.

Soy milk is dairy-free and made from an extract of soy beans. It is typically mixed with water and a natural sweetener so it tastes and looks similar cow’s milk. Soy milk often has calcium and vitamin D added to it to increase its nutritional value.

Rice milk is also dairy-freeand is made from a mixture of partially milled rice and water. It often has vitamin A, vitamin D, B vitamins, calcium and iron added to enhance its nutritional benefits.

No matter what you choose,it is important to keep a balanced diet. To get the full benefits of cow’s milk and these nine essential nutrients, the USDA recommends adults and children to consume two to three servings of milk (or cheese or yogurt) each day. A serving size is 1 cup of milk or yogurt, 1.5 ounces of natural cheese or 2 ounces of processed cheese.

Summer Sprout is Cleveland’s Community Gardening Program. There are currently 175 active gardens in the program. Gardeners are able to grow nutritious food in their neighborhoods, at their churches, or places of work. If you know of a potential new garden site, or belong to an existing garden that is not currently enrolled in Summer Sprout, feel free to contact Jim Thompson at OSU Extension for more information and an application.

Grow Nutritous Food in your Neighborhood

Be Active in your Community

Put a Vacant Lot to Good Use

Get Excercise and Fresh Air

The Summer Sprout Program is supported by the City of Cleveland Department of Community Development and managed by Ohio State University Extension, Cuyahoga County. City of Cleveland residents and stakeholders are eligible to apply for the Sum-mer Sprout Program. Only garden sites in the City of Cleveland who fill out complete applications will be considered.

Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Incorporated (BBC) is a non-profit neighborhood development organization founded in 1990 that serves most of Cleveland's Ward 5. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for residents of Ward 5 by initiating and cultivating housing, retail, employment, and recreation opportunities through effective partnerships with residents, community groups, government, corporations and institutions.